


Little Details in SPN S3

by yourlibrarian



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Episode: s03e05 Bedtime Stories, Episode: s03e06 Red Sky at Morning, Episode: s03e10 Dream a Little Dream, Episode: s04e04 Metamorphosis, Gen, Meta, Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-07 05:54:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6788437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The argument that Dean and Sam have in the car as Bedtime opens made me think about why it is that Sam is so secretive compared to Dean.  It's not that we haven't seen both characters keep secrets, but I think doing so wears on Dean much more heavily than Sam.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Details in SPN S3

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted December 20, 2008

Just a few things I noticed today during my viewing of the SPN S3 episodes:

1) Anyone catch the fact that in Red Sky when Sam summons the ghost's brother he's invoking Castiel? Anyone want to lay odds that little bit of trivia spawned our new character's identity?

2) I was going to give SPN props for its continuity in Bedtime Stories. When they drive into town and are speculating a werewolf was responsible for the attack, they talk about the moon's stages. As we end the episode, in a nice bit of directing, we see the motel with a full moon over it cutting to a shot of the room painting showing a full moon. 

However in the next episode, Red Sky, there is also a full moon out, so I think it's just a default graphic choice. In canon terms since it isn't possible that they'd gotten wind of the next case and made it there in time to interview Gert, apparently it's been a full month between Bedtime and Red Sky.

3) I missed in Red Sky that Dean tells Bela that the ghost he shot the night before was missing his right hand. Presumably Sam and his excellent photographic memory (not to mention night vision) spotted that and told Dean, because there's no way Dean could have seen that himself.

4) Although I wasn't much of a fan of Bedtime as an episode (great concept, problematic execution), I really appreciated the way that opening sequence with the 3 construction guys was blocked and shot. 

5) It's interesting rewatching Bela's arc with the end in mind. I still think she was mishandled, but there's a lot more meaning to some of her lines now, such as her parting shot to Dean about both of them being damaged goods. I imagine she knew even then about his deal. It also makes me think yet again of how often John Winchester is painted as an abusive father in absentia -- here by implication in connection to Bela's father, Henriksen's crack to Dean in JiB, the [original story idea for Dean's confrontation](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6786904) in Dream, etc. 

6) The argument that Dean and Sam have in the car as Bedtime opens made me think about why it is that Sam is so secretive compared to Dean. It's not that we haven't seen both characters keep secrets, but I think doing so wears on Dean much more heavily than Sam. There are things he doesn't want to talk about but I think that's different from deliberately hiding things. So I'm reminded that Sam still hasn't told Dean about Mary's family, even after Dean's trip back in time. And his whole discussion in Metamorphosis about why he keeps these kinds of things from Dean seemed fairly straightforward to me. But more than just his shame and fearfulness about the demon blood, I suspect, his interests and opinions clashed with that of John and Dean often, and it was just easier to go his own way and keep things to himself as a matter of routine. I think it simply became second nature for Sam to do so, as a form of both self-protection and rebellion (hence his phrase "you're not Dad.") 

The way the two play out their roles of older and younger sibling is a source of endless fascination for me. Dean does order Sam around at times (and no doubt did so as a matter of course when they were younger). The fact that Sam was able to "get away with" his rebellion is itself a form of indulgence in the Winchester household. At the same time his and Dean's personalities were so clearly contrasted in Bedtime, especially with people they interviewed -- Dean genial but blunt, and Sam serious and conciliatory. It seems to me the way they try to get things from other people is much like how they've tried to get their way with one another. 

Dean is a bit of a hammer -- this must be done, no one cares if you don't like it -- but tries to use levity to jolly his brother's temperament. Sam is direct in his own way, unwilling to be diverted, and tries to use empathy and persuasion to win his case. I suppose Dean is used to dealing from a position of strength, Sam from a position of weakness, hence their differing styles. Though in the first moments when Sam finds out Dean made the deal, Dean is pleading with him, I think it has more to do with Dean being so strung out on an emotional tightrope at that moment that he just can't deal with a fight right then. But I don't think it's Dean's usual style. Later when Sam berates Dean for making the deal, Dean simply clams up and refuses to discuss it, his attitude very much a "take it or leave it" one. By comparison when Dean lashes out at Sam in Metamorphosis for using his powers, Sam tries to get Dean on his side with empathy and rationalization. Of course ever since then Dean's objections have fallen on deaf ears, so I think the end result is the same in both cases. But I do think their approach differs in interesting ways.


End file.
